本文作者是OMFIF首席经济学家本·鲁滨逊，原文摘自国际货币金融机构官方论坛（OMFIF）评论，OMFIF是一家总部位于伦敦的全球金融智库。
作者提出目前多样化的绿色金融投资方式，同时指出公共投资者如主权基金、中央银行等在绿色金融的发展中起到的关键作用。绿色资产的本质使得它们尤为吸引央行储备管理者和养老基金这样的长期投资者。绿色债券价格稳定，因为其投资者往往会持有债券至到期。投资者往往会重视在投资中具有环保意识的公司的长期前景。他们意识到碳密集型企业所面临的风险，包括搁浅资产、严格的资产、更高的保险成本和潜在的罚款。在投资者和资产管理人强调, 他们的绿色资产是按照常规资产的投资标准进行评估之下，绿色投资已经带来强劲的回报。
公众投资者和绿色债券,绿色金融变得更加多样化
2007年，世界银行和欧洲投资银行第一次发行了绿色债券。此后，公众投资者在绿色金融的发展中起着重要作用。作为长期投资者，公共养老基金数十年来一直关注着投资公司和投资项目的环境、社会和管理问题。
通常，投资者会行使股东权力，鼓励企业增强环境、社会、企业治理责任。养老基金要求提高上报和透明度的标准，决定不投资哪些产业，并对涉及化石燃料相关活动的公司撤资或减少投资。由于绿色金融出现，过去几年里投资者可以增加对这些资产的分配额，带动市场快速发展。
已承诺会在接下来数年间大力推动绿色投资的大型养老基金有加利福尼亚的CalSTRS，瑞典的AP2、AP3、AP4，丹麦的ABP，法国的Ircantec和澳大利亚的Local Government Super。在管理资产总额为13.8万亿美元的情况下，公共养老基金承诺将其资产的1%至5%投资于绿色投资，这将是一个巨大的市场。
虽然很少有机构正式确定一个目标，但OMFIF关于关于公众投资者的调查显示，许多投资者愿意将绿色金融的投资比例上调到总投资组合的3%。那些制定了目标的机构有望快速超过这一比例。2016年初，瑞典的AP2将绿色债券投资组合从固定收益投资中分离，战略资产配置为1%，相当于30亿瑞典克朗(3300万美金)。2016年中旬，其投资总额达到了42亿瑞典克朗。
绿色债券需求高
2012年，南非政府雇员养老基金出资10亿兰特（1.178亿美元），购买了国有工业发展公司所发行的绿色债券。随后在2013年，该基金购买了一个由未标名的气候相关债权进行融资的太阳能项目40%的股权。这构成其“将投资组合中的5%用于社会经济发展以及“绿色经济”项目”的计划的一部分。
公共养老基金的进一步需求也很高。瑞典的AP3希望在2016至2018年将绿色投资增加三倍，达到固定收益类投资的13%，约150亿瑞典克朗。2017年1月，法国养老基金Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites承诺给予投资绿色和可持续资产的经理人50亿欧元。美国第六大公共养老基金CalSTRS持有超过3.1亿美元的绿色债券，这意味着两年内增长了三倍。2016年11马里兰州州财政国库局购入世界银行发行的5亿美元绿色债券其中的2.5亿，在所有参与机构中占比最多。
持有4230亿美元的丹麦养老基金会ABP购买绿色债券的出资金额从2015年初的3亿欧元增加到2016年末的14亿欧元，占总债券投资组合的2.8%。它希望到2020年能将环境和社会问题方面的总投资翻一倍。德国联邦政府和州政府养老金基金对可持续的投资战略越发感兴趣，尤其是股权投资。
主权基金也在起着更为积极的作用。2014年开始的油价下跌也加快了能源依赖型国家经济多样化的脚步。持有680亿欧元的阿布扎比穆巴达拉公司开发了绿色投资工具，借此投资全世界的可再生能源项目，尤其是风能和太阳能。
在沙特阿美石油公司计划于2018年进行首次公开发售后，沙特阿拉伯的公共投资基金将成为最大的主权基金之一。其监督人，副王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼表示该基金的目标是“实现投资多样化，进而在20年内，我们将成为一个不再主要依靠石油的经济体或国家”。作为2030愿景的一部分，沙特阿拉伯将大力发展可再生能源行业，对绿色资产和绿色技术的投资将成为关键。持有220亿资金的新西兰养老金基金是另一个显著增加对替代能源和能源效率的投资的基金。
主权基金正在减少化石燃料资产的投资。持有230亿美元的爱尔兰主权基金计划完全撤出化石燃料投资。法国《绿色增长的能源转型法》要求资产拥有者和经理人提供投资涉及的碳足迹信息，并且披露投资组合中气候方面的风险。受该法案鼓舞，主权基金Caisse de Dépôts已经大幅减少投资组合中的碳资产，增加绿色资产。
中央银行参与其中
央行也在支持绿色金融中起着重要作用。2015年，孟加拉银行第一个宣布将部分外汇储备投资于绿色债券，总量达2亿美元。2016年，摩洛哥央行出资1亿美元购买世界银行的绿色债券。欧洲银行，包括德意志联邦银行也对绿色债券投资表示出兴趣，不过他们也表示担忧，“绿色债券市场太小，仅仅是对现有投资组合的补充”。2016年末，欧洲央行发布了关于绿色债券的资源效率融资潜力的报告。报告强调公共部门投资者可以积极支持绿色债券市场的发展，但也警告了“风险成本的不正当替换”，这将威胁市场的稳定性。
扩大市场规模的一种方法是允许央行接受绿色债券作为常备借贷便利和中期借贷便利的抵押品, 这些借贷便利允许银行通过回购协议向中央银行借款。这将提振债券发行和投资者需求。新加坡货币管理局正在选择另一种方式，即为信用评级较低的绿色债券提供担保, 以吸引机构投资者。
绿色资产的本质使得它们尤为吸引央行储备管理者和养老基金这样的长期投资者。绿色债券价格稳定，因为其投资者往往会持有债券至到期。投资者往往会重视在投资中具有环保意识的公司的长期前景。他们意识到碳密集型企业所面临的风险，包括搁浅资产、严格的资产、更高的保险成本和潜在的罚款。在投资者和资产管理人强调, 他们的绿色资产是按照常规资产的投资标准进行评估之下，绿色投资已经带来强劲的回报。
绿色债券的表现优于传统的固定收益资产, 还同时得到发行方的支持力量, 因此它们并不比普通债券风险高。在 2016年, NBIM 在环境相关的大型股权投资回报率为12.4%, 而其总股本投资回报率则为8.7%。
绿色债券市场正在发展, 并变得更加多样化。2016年波兰发行了一支主权绿色债券, 2017年1月,法国发行了一支规模更大的主权绿色债券。中国人民银行和英格兰银行一直致力于监管工作, 以推动企业和银行发行绿色债券，二者发行量占总发行量约60%, 其余主要由国际发展组织和市政债券组成。2016年, 绿色债券市场的总额增加了一倍, 达到950亿美元, 预计2017年发行量将增长至1200亿美至1500亿美元。全球公众投资者已表明, 他们是这一快速发展的行业的主导力量, 也将是市场进一步发展的关键。
英文原文如下：
Public investors and green bonds
Green finance becoming more diverse
by Ben Robinson, Economist of OMFIF
Tue 4 Jul 2017
Public investors have played a crucial role in the development of green finance since the launch of the first green bond by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank in 2007. As long-term investors, public pension funds have for decades been concerned with environmental, social and governance issues in the companies and projects they invest in.
Often this has taken the form of using shareholder rights to encourage companies to increase their ESG responsibilities. Pension funds have demanded improved reporting and transparency standards, decided against investing in certain industries and disinvested from companies involved in fossil-fuel related activities. The emergence of green finance options has allowed them to increase their allocations to these assets over the last few years, contributing to a rapidly growing market.
Large public pension funds that have committed to boosting their green investments over the coming years include CalSTRS in California, Sweden’s AP2, AP3 and AP4, Danish ABP, France’s Ircantec and Australia Local Government Super. With a total of $13.8tn in assets under management, a commitment by public pension funds to invest 1%-5% of their assets in green investments would represent a huge market.
While few institutions have formally set themselves a target, the OMFIF survey of public investors shows that many are increasingly willing to boost their green allocations to up to 3% of their total portfolio. Those that have set targets have tended to exceed them quickly. At the start of 2016, Sweden’s AP2 separated its green bond portfolio from its fixed income investments with a strategic allocation of 1%, equal to Sek3bn ($33m). By the middle of the year it held a total of Sek4.2bn.
Green bond demand is high
Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, has a mandate to invest Nok30bn-Nok60bn ($3.5bn-$7bn) in ‘environmental investments’. In 2016 NBIM, the largest sovereign fund (based on publicly available information), exceeded this with Nok63.7bn. Out of this Nok57.7bn is invested in listed equities of companies in the areas of low emission energy and alternative fuels, clean energy and efficiency technology, or natural resource management. An additional Nok6.1bn has been invested in green bonds since NBIM created its green bond portfolio in 2014.
South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund bought an allocation of Zar1bn ($117.8m) in a green bond issued by the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation in 2012. It followed this in 2013 with a 40% equity stake in a solar power project financed by an unlabelled climate-aligned bond. This forms part of its plan to invest 5% of its portfolio in social and economic development and ‘green economy’ projects.
Further demand from public pension funds is high. Sweden’s AP3 wants to treble its green bond investments between 2016-18 to 13% of its fixed income investments, equivalent to around Sek15bn. In January 2017 French pension fund Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites committed €5bn to managers investing in green and sustainable assets. CalSTRS, the sixth largest public pension fund in the US, holds over $310m green bonds. This represents a threefold increase over two years. In November 2016 the Maryland State Treasurer’s Office bought $250m of green bonds in a $500m World Bank issuance, the largest share of any participating institution.
At the end of 2016 StichtingPensioenfonds ABP, a $423bn Danish pension fund, had a €1.4bn allocation to green bonds, making up 2.8% of its total bond portfolio, up from €300m at the start of 2015. It wants to double its total allocation to investments that address environmental and social issues by 2020. Germany’s federal and state government pension funds have a growing interest in sustainable investment strategies, particularly in equity investments.
Sovereign funds are also beginning to play a more active role. The fall in oil prices since 2014 has hastened attempts to diversify the economies of energy-dependent countries. Funds such as the $68bn Mubadala, in Abu Dhabi, have created green investment vehicles with which they are investing in renewable energy projects around the world, particularly solar and wind.
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is set to become one of the largest sovereign funds after the initial public offering of Saudi Aramco planned for 2018. It has the goal of ‘diversifying investments so that within 20 years we will be an economy or state that doesn’t depend mainly on oil’, according to Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who oversees the fund. As part of the wider Vision 2030, the country is planning to boost its renewable energy sector, for which investment in green assets and technology will be key. New Zealand’s $22bn Superannuation Fund is another that is significantly increasing investments in alternative energy and energy efficiency.
Sovereign funds are divesting from assets related to fossil fuels. Ireland’s $23bn sovereign fund plans to divest completely. France’s sovereign fund Caisse de Dépôts has significantly decarbonised its investment portfolios and increased its green assets, encouraged by the government’s new Energy Transition for Green Growth Act, which requires asset owners and managers to provide information on the carbon footprint of their investments and to disclose climate risks in their portfolios.
To date NBIM has sold its stake in 69 companies that are heavily exposed to coal. Last year it brought a court case against Volkswagen as a result of the emissions scandal at the carmaker, and regularly uses its shareholder rights to vote on sustainability issues. In 2016 it raised ESG issues at 1,815 shareholder meetings, 48% of the total. This pressure on companies from large institutional investors creates an indirect boost to green bonds, climate-aligned bonds and other green options. Many public investors include clauses in their mandate to ‘encourage the development of green and responsible business practices and models’, via divestment, selective investment and use of shareholder rights. This can encourage companies to increase their investments in green assets in order to ensure they are able to attract investment from these large public institutions.
Central banks joining in the rush
Central banks, too, play a vital role in supporting the growth of green finance. In 2015 Bangladesh Bank was the first central bank to announce it would invest some of its foreign exchange reserves in green bonds, with an allocation of $200m. In 2016 the central bank of Morocco allocated $100m of its reserves to a green bond from the World Bank. European central banks, including the Deutsche Bundesbank, have shown interest in green bond investments, though they have highlighted concerns that the market remains too small to be more than a ‘small complement to their existing portfolio allocation’. In late 2016 the European Central Bank released a report on ‘the potential of green bond finance for resource-efficient investments’, which highlighted that public sector investors could actively support the development of the green bond market, but warned of ‘unjustified altering of risk profiles’, which could threaten the stability of the market.
One way to boost the size of the market is to allow central banks to accept green bonds as collateral for standing lending facilities and medium-term lending facilities, which allow banks to borrow from the central bank via repurchase agreements. This would boost both issuance and investor demand. Another option being pursued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore is to provide guarantees for green bonds with lower credit ratings in order to attract institutional investors.
The nature of green assets could make them particularly attractive to central bank reserves managers and long-term investors like pension funds. Green bonds have exhibited price stability as they tend to be bought by investors that hold to maturity. Investors tend to prize the long-term prospects of companies that are environmentally conscious in their investments. Investors are aware of the risks to carbon-intensive companies of stranded assets and tightening regulations, higher insurance costs and potential fines. Green investments have seen strong returns, with investors and asset managers emphasising that their green assets are evaluated according to the same investment criteria as their regular assets.
Green bonds have performed better than traditional fixed income assets, while still being backed by the strength of the issuing party, so they are no more risky than regular bonds. In 2016 the large equity investments in NBIM’s environment-related mandate returned 12.4%, against 8.7% for its total equity investments.
The green bond market is growing and becoming more diverse. France launched a sovereign green bond in January 2017, following a smaller sovereign green bond issuance by Poland in 2016. The People’s Bank of China and the Bank of England have been laying the regulatory groundwork to boost issuance of green bonds by corporates and banks, which now account for almost 60% of total issuance, with most of the rest made up by international development organisations and municipals. In 2016 the total green bond market more than doubled to $95bn and issuance is expected to grow to $120bn-$150bn in 2017. Global Public Investors have shown they are a leading force in this rapidly growing sector and will be key to the market’s further development.
Ben Robinson, Economist of OMFIF
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